


Protecting you...

by FireForBattle



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Alien Invasion, Black Arms Invasion, Dialogue Heavy, Happy Ending, How Do I Tag, Knuckles is a dumbass, Love Confession, M/M, POV First Person, Shadow the Hedgehog is an emotional disaster, Switching point of views, in the best way, piece was written in 2014, tagging by memorie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:15:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29110671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireForBattle/pseuds/FireForBattle
Summary: Shadow the Hedgehog being an emotional disaster for ~7k words.Also there is a Black Arms Invasion.
Relationships: Knuckles the Echidna & Shadow the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna & Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna/Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog & Sonic the Hedgehog
Kudos: 6





	Protecting you...

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so... first time posting so bear with me with the tags.  
> This piece was first written in 2014 (2013? IDK) and I haven´t revisited it since... 2017? 16? So, my memory about what's happening in here are pretty fuzzy. But I was also way too lazy to rework it. It shall stay the way it had been posted to other sites.... FOREVER.  
> Please enjoy my 2014-self's raw talent!

**Shadows P.O.V.**

I didn´t know when it started nor did I know why but not too long ago I started to feel weird. Not weird that I might be sick or something like that. The weird thing was that I couldn´t stop thinking about one certain person. The red guardian. Whenever I closed my eyes, he was the first thing I saw. Whenever he was near, I couldn´t help but feel... happy. An emotion I thought I couldn´t feel anymore since Maria died, since the humans took away everything I loved. But I have been proven wrong. Something about Knuckles made me feel this way. At first I thought he was an idiot, just like everyone of Fakers friends. But after some time I started to think differently about him. He is quite outstanding from the blue hedgehogs friends. You could say… he is quite like me. Perhaps this was what caught my attention. I´m not sure. From what I heard from Rouge and sometimes also from others, Knuckles seems quite stupid. I never fully believed them. He must had reasons for the things he did. That was something I was sure about, but I had to see myself.

So I started to watch him. I did this pretty long and never saw him do something what the others claim to be moronic. The guardian always had a reason for everything he did. I learned more of him over the time and just noted how similar we actually are. Although he is a bit more social then me but this wasn´t really surprising to me at all. All this time in watching him, there was one thing I never really understood. The guardian was always alone on his island. I knew that he was used to this but I never understood why Sonic or some of his other friends never visited him. Well… except for Rouge but she only came to tease Knuckles or to try to steal the emerald the guardian would give his life for. The point is... I sensed his loneliness. Even though he didn´t show it. Pity built up inside of me. I often questioned myself why I would care until I finally found my answer. It was because I just knew all too well how bad this feeling is. I guess… a side of me just wanted to help him getting out of this.

My first try ended up in a fight, because the echidna thought I was on his island for the emerald. The next tries didn´t go any different, but after a while I finally managed to make him understand that his precious emerald wasn´t what I was after. At first he was still sceptical. I didn´t blame him for that. He asked me what else I would do on his island if it wasn´t for the emerald. Of course I didn´t want to admit that I was there for him so I just lied and told him that I just liked to visit the island. Okay, it was half a lie. I really liked to come here. It´s indeed a beautiful landscape. Peaceful, calm… and Faker would never expect me to be there. Thanks to his credulity he believed me, although he still didn´t like to see me there. After some time though, he started to get used to see me on his home. And I guess… this is how it all started...

It´s been a few month since I noted this feelings inside my stomach. At first I tried to ignore them but no matter how hard I tried, after some time I just couldn´t anymore. I sat at home and watched TV to distract myself. Even though I didn´t like watching TV. There was and still is only crap on it, but I didn´t know what else I could do. Also, I was bored as hell.

"..."

But those feelings just won´t go away...

"......"

...not matter what I did....

"...grrrrr!"

Annoyed I threw the remote away and hid my face in my hands, rubbing my eyes. With a heavy sigh I looked at the floor.

"Why won´t leave me this feelings alone!?" I growled angrily. "I am not supposed to feel this way!"

This is at least what I told myself. But no matter how hard I denied it, I knew my heart decided otherwise. It decided what I hoped would never happen to me. Obviously my fate had other plans for me. Angrily I made a fist and before I knew what I was actually doing, I stood up and punched the wall so that a big hole originated. I gritted my teeth and pulled my hand back, holding it with my other hand. I hissed at the pain. I didn´t know what came over me. A few moments later I leaned my head against the wall, pinning my ears back. My aching hand hung down and the other one laid calmly on the wall, right under my head. With half lidded eyes I looked at the white surface of the wall. I had to learn to accept them but still...

"... just why out of all people it has to be him...?" I whispered to myself.

Was it a bad idea to ever start to want to know him? Slowly I slided down, kneeling on the floor, my head still leaning against the wall. I guess I was on the edge to desperation. Something that never happen to me before and I never thought that feelings could cause it. This was just new to me. I have never felt this for someone before. Okay, there was Maria and I loved her, but only like a sister. Not like this. It was nothing like this. I closed my eyes and sighed again. For who knows how long I just remained there, thinking. Thinking of what I should do. Thinking of what COULD I do before this damn feelings made me go insane. It passed some time until it hit me. I opened my eyes and looked at the floor.

"..."

The decision I then fell was quite simple but it was the only option. Slowly I stood up again, supporting myself on the wall. I turned my head to look out of the window. The guardian had to know. Even if he didn´t feel the same way back but this didn´t matter. I simply couldn´t live like this anymore... I simply couldn´t deny or hide it anymore... I simply needed to get it off my chest. So my decision became serious.

"I will confess to him" I said in my usual serious voice.

I said it was simple, but I was sure as soon as I got it off my chest, the feelings would stop to haunt me. However, I grabbed my shoes and went to the door. My house was off the city, since I can´t stand it when a lot of people are around me. Especially if they are all humans. So I was glad that my house wasn´t that near to this huge concrete block. That and I liked nature a lot better anyway. The only ones who know where I lived are Faker and his friends, including Knuckles. Don´t ask me why the hell he knows that. He never visited me actually, so he must heard it from Sonic or someone of the others. Anyway, I made my way to Angel Island. Well… more like I went to the cliff. The only problem with this floating island is, that it´s never on the same spot. So I can´t just use my chaos control because I don´t know where the hell Knuckles' home is on the sky. The only thing I knew is that it is somewhere near the cliff and floats over the ocean. I could have used my chaos control to teleport to the cliff though, but I liked going through the nature and I also thought about how it would be the best way to confess. So walking bought me some time.

It´s been a little while since the last time I saw the guardian. If you could say about a week is a little while. So I didn´t know how he was. The closer I came the more exiting I became. I guess no one could blame me for that. It´s not like you would confess to someone every day or at least try to. Sighing I turned my head up to look at the blue sky. Before I even realized it my mind already went to the red echidna again. To his smile and laugh… To his beautiful red fur... to how it would feel to have his fur against my own when I hold him... to his gorgeous and warm purple eyes... how he would look at me with them into my red ones... I can´t help it! He is just so damn cu-

"Wait? What the hell?! Pull yourself together, Shadow! It´s not the time to daydream! You confess to him, yes! But that dosen´t mean you will be able to do anything!" I thought, mentally slapping myself to get myself out of this ridiculous daydream.

I shook my head and continued going because I stopped without noticing. A low sigh escaped my mouth. This thought sadded me a little. I didn´t think it would affect me this much but again I have been proven wrong. I guessed it was normal to feel like that. How should I know anyway. A few minutes of walking passed and doubts didn´t want to leave me. Thoughts of just turning around, go back home and forget about this here crossed my mind but I shook them off. There was no way I would turn back now. I knew that I would regret it later. Something just told me. _Either it´s now or it´s never_. And I had to take this chance no matter how many doubts were crossing my mind.

A few more minutes of walking and thinking passed, until my trail of thoughts were interrupted by a voice I just knew all too well. Faker.

"Shadow!!!" I heard the blue hedgehog shout.

I turned around to see that he was running right up to me. Not a surprise since he yelled my name. He stopped right in front of me while I crossed my arms.

"Finally I found you!" he said, looking a bit out of breath and… stressed?

"I hope for you that you have a good reason, Sonic! Because I have something important to do and if it´s just for a stupid race then it has to wait!" I barked at him.

His green eyes widened a bit and he shook his head, what made one of my eyebrows rise. If he wasn´t here to ask me for a race then what else he could have wanted?

"What is it then? If it´s nothing important then I will go! I have definitely something better to do than just standing here and wait for you to speak" I told him annoyed.

Ehen he didn´t give me an answer I sighed and turned around, wanting to go. I guess this must have pulled Sonic out of his 'trance' because I then felt his hand on my shoulder. Turning my head I looked again at his stressed face.

"Wait, Shadow! It is important!" he said a bit louder.

"Then what is i-"

Because of an explosion I couldn´t finish what I had to say. My eyes widened a little and Sonic held his head. I pushed him, not rough, to the side and took a step into the direction from where it was coming. On the horizon I saw the skyline of the city. As I narrowed my eyes a saw that smoke rose from the middle.

"What was that?!" I asked, more to myself than to Sonic but he answered me anyway.

"Black Arms!" he said, almost shouting.

My eyes widened once again and I turned around to looks at him.

"What?! I thought they all died after I destroyed the comet!" I said, rising my voice as well.

"I thought so as well! They also look kinda odd in contrast to the ones we fought! But that dosen´t matter right now! We have to stop them!" he said and looked at me.

A nod was my respond and as soon as he saw that, he started running towards Station Square. I followed close behind. In this case Knuckles really had to wait. I just hoped he was okay. It didn´t take five minutes for us the get to Station Square. It also didn´t take long until fleeing humans passed us. In panic they ran out of the city as fast as they could. Soon enough we spotted the others. Rouge, Tails, Silver, the purple cat, the pink hedgehog and even the chaotix guys. Hell, even idiotic G.U.N. was there… I didn´t spot Knuckles though so I assumed that he was still on his island. It distracted me a bit too much, because I didn´t noticed that one of this monsters was coming right at me.

"Shadow! Watch out!" I heard Sonic shout.

I turned my head just when this alien was about to jump. Of course I was fast enough to dodge and kneeled down. I watched this thing jump over me. My eyes followed it. When it landed it crashed right into a building and scream out in pain. I narrowed my eyes at this… black arm. Sonic was right, they looked odd. Nothing like the black arms I fought in the past, yet they had a lot similarities with those. This black arm was a lot bigger than the others. It looked a lot more like a wild animal. Well, as much as an alien is able to look like one. Also it walked on four legs. Slowly this thing stood back up. Disgusting looking drool came out of its mouth. It screamed and started running somewhere else. I guessed to the other monsters.

A scream made me snap out of my thoughts and I shook my head, looking from where the scream came. A young human girl was surrounded by those things. I didn´t lose any time and ran towards them to help her. Using my spin dash to attack them. I hit them away and landed beside the girl. I took her and jumped away before this things got the chance to attack us. When we had a safe distance to them, I sat her down and told her to leave as fast as she could. A nod was her respond, then she stood up and ran away. Giving this things my attention again, I made myself ready to battle them. The black arms turned around to look at me and screamed out, attacking me right away. And I was more than ready to show them where they belong!

It passed who knows how much time and they still didn´t want to give up. Though they finally became less. Station Square however looked like an area that was attacked with bombs. This monsters hide a lot of surprises. I must admit they could take more than those I fought in the past and slowly I got tired from all this fighting. One of them managed to pin me against a building wall. With my hand locked with its claws and gritted teeth I tried to push it away. However, a few moments later Sonic used his own spin attack to hit this thing away from me. I landed on the ground and breathed heavy, but I stood up again.

"Are you okay, Shadow?" he asked me.

"I´m fine" I replied blank.

"Alright. Anyway, I will take this thing so you better don´t get in my way" he said with his usual grin.

Judging by the tone of his voice I could tell that he didn´t like my blank remark but he had definitely other thing to worry about. Literally.

"Hmpf" was all I responded.

Dodging the black arms attack I ran past it to take care of the few who were still alive and let Sonic take care of that one, because he wanted so badly for whatever reason. Guessing he just wanted to show me how strong he is or something like that. Sometimes his cocky attitude annoyed the heck out of me but sadly I couldn´t do anything to stop him from being like this nor did I actually want.

After some more time of battling I happened to pass a screen behind a huge window. A wonder this thing still worked and that the window wasn´t broken. But… something on the screen was awfully familiar.

"Wait a second" I said to myself.

I turned around and ran back to the window. My eyes widened when I spotted the certain island on the screen. This was one of the weather cameras showing the weather over the sea and Angel Island happened to be right in its range. Putting my hand on the glass, I kept staring on the screen. I didn´t want to believe my eyes when I saw that over the island itself was this cloud from where the black arms appeared. I also saw how they fell down on Knuckles' home. Panic rised inside my stomach.

"No! No! Not the guardian!" I said loudly.

In a blink I turned around and ran towards where I saw Sonic the last time.

"SONIC!!" I yelled over and over again, not caring if I sounded in panic or not.

When he finally heard me, he turned towards me. Though I couldn´t clearly see his face, I could tell that he looked confused but I didn´t care.

"GIVE ME YOUR CHAOS EMERALD!" I yelled.

"Huh? Why?" he asked.

I didn´t have time to explain!

"JUST GIVE ME THE DAMN EMERALD!" I kept shouting.

"Alright, alright!" he shouted back and took out his chaos emerald.

He didn´t notice that another black arm came from behind to attack him until Amy shouted 'Sonic, watch out'. Sonic turned around and widened his eyes. Before it could pin him down, Sonic turned towards me and threw the emerald over to me.

"Here Shadow!" he shouted shortly before he got pinned down.

I jumped up and caught it. Landing right on my feet again I continued to run. One of my ears twitched back as I heard Sonic shouting again, so I turned my head. The alien hold Sonic up but he only looked at me.

"Where are you goin' Shadow?" he yelled, seeming like he didn´t care that this thing was holding him up.

And for a second I thought I had to worry for his sake, but I should have known that he would be fine.

"I have to help someone! You can handle the rest here alone! They should not be such a problem!" I shouted back, giving my attention back to what was in front of me also dodging attacks of some of the aliens.

"Okay!" was the last thing I heard from Sonic.

Well... this and something like 'And you let go of me, you reeking creep'. If he really said that was something I wasn´t sure. It was very low since I was already pretty far away. However, when I ran through the streets I spotted a gun on the ground and I picked it up when I passed it. I checked if it was intact what it in the end was. Hiding it in my quills I continued to run towards the cliff as fast as I could. Of course it didn´t take long when I ran at full speed. As I ran beside the abyss I kept my eyes on the sky over the sea. I was positive that the huge island will get in sight soon. And it did. As soon as I saw the island I gritted my teeth, took out the emerald and shouted…

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

In a flash of green light I disappeared, landing right on the floating island. Not losing any time I ran right towards where the shrine of the emerald remained. It was quite hard because of the islands thicket but I couldn´t let that stop me! I needed to get to the shrine not matter what!

"KNUCKLES!" I yelled over and over again, hoping that he would hear me and shouting back, but nothing came.

This obviously didn´t do anything to calm me down. Finally I could see the shrine through the vegetation but also things I didn´t wish to see. Black Arms. I hurried up, shouting the echidnas name again, this time with more panic in my voice. When I stepped out of the woods, it felt like my heart stop beating for a few moments. Horror filled my eyes as I saw Knuckles lying on the ground, surrounded by a pool of blood. His blood. Time seemed to pass in slow motion for me. Everything seemed to move slower. The aliens, the wind, the grass, just everything. But I managed to snap back to reality as I spotted this damn creatures going up to the guardian. To my guardian to finish him off! Oh no, they won´t! Rage filled my body and I went right for the kill.

"LEAVE HIM THE FUCK ALONE YOU DAMN PRICKS!!" I yelled with my rage filled voice, rushing up to them faster than the speed of sound.

They turned towards me, but weren´t able to react as fast as I was right at them. Using all my abilities and attacks to kill and hit them right away. Chaos Spear, Chaos Blast, Homing Attack... I could have sworn that it didn´t take long anymore before I turn dark. If I even have this form. It just felt like it. I barely felt so much rage ever before. Screams of pain and agony filled the air. Blood were spilled over the once deep green grass. When I killed the last one, I kneeled on the ground. Out of breath though I didn´t even take of the rings on my wrists. But there were more Black Arms, but they didn´t pay attention towards me at the moment and I didn´t care at the moment. I turned around to look at the red echidna. He didn´t move. As fast as I could I ran over to him, kneeling beside him, holding him up.

"Knuckles!" I yelled with panic in my eyes and voice only to get no reaction from him.

My breath fastened as I held him in my arms. He was injured and bruised all over his body. Blood ran down from his wound. Lying my head on his chest I checked if he was still alive. My heart skipped a beat when I heard Knuckles own heart beating weakly in his chest. It was beating very very weak. All of sudden I felt a warm liquid fall down my cheeks. I blinked and looked up, seeing how tears fell down my face and on Knuckles bloodstained fur. I was crying. More warm tears fell down as I looked at the echidnas face. I couldn´t help. Pinning my ears back onto my head, I held him close, not wanting to let him go. If I just would have come sooner! I didn´t exactly know why I started to cry. Was it because I was relieved that Knuckles was still alive? Or was it because I was shocked to see him like this? I really didn´t know.

But there was one thing I knew. I knew that I was scared. I was scared that I will lose the one I love again. Scared that the story I had to live through will repeat itself again. Scared to feel alone all over again... I leaned away, looking at his face one more time. Tears still found their way down my face. Then my expression became as determined and serious as it could. Not this time..! It was not over yet! I will not allow to let this happen again! I will save him and I was determined to do exactly that! One of my ears twitched as I heard something big landing not far away from us. I turned my head only to see that another black arm, one who looked different from the others, leaning over the dead ones. Ones I didn´t kill. Those must be the ones Knuckles fought and managed to kill before he was too weak to continue and passed out.

However, this black arm was even bigger and seemed much stronger than the others. Also it was more creepy looking. I assumed this must be the leader or mother or however it is called. Slowly it turned its head towards us and let out a loud growl as soon as its eyes landed on us. I started to growl myself as this alien turned its whole body towards us. I was going to protect Knuckles! No matter what! Slowly I moved one of my hand to my quills, pulling out the gun I hid there. Another loud growl came from the alien. Holding Knuckles head with one hand to my chest, I pointed the gun right at this beast. It did nothing and only looked at me.

"I will not permit you to hurt him anymore. This is my promise" I said in almost a scaring calm voice.

A loud hiss was the black arms reply and it jumped towards us, ready to kill the both of us. And I pulled the trigger... right when it was in front of us, with its mouth wide open and who knows how many sharp teeth ready to lacerate us...

*shot*

* * *

**Knuckles P.O.V.**

I didn´t know where I was. Everything was black and my body felt numb. The only thing I could feel was my chest slowly getting up and down from my calm breaths. Was I dead? No, if I would, I wouldn´t be able to breath and feel it. Well, if I was not dead and still alive, the question still was where I am. My thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. At first I couldn´t tell who exactly it was. It just rang in my ears but after some time it became more clear.

"Knuckles! Come one, buddy! Stop being a sleepyhead and open your eyes already..." I heard him say.

Yes, it was definitely the voice of a male but there was another one.

"Sonic, hun. Stop it, I don´t think this will help" I heard a female voice say.

Wait... did the female voice say Sonic? So it was his voice I heard? Yes, it must be him now that I think about the tone of his voice. The female voice also became more clear. It must have been Rouge. She is the only one who calls other 'Hun', 'Darling' or something like that. Slowly I felt how I became able to open my eyes slowly again. As I did so, I couldn´t see anything at first. A bright light blinded me for a few seconds. Then I only saw blurs before my vision became more clear. A low groan escaped my throat when I turned my head. I looked around the room. White was everywhere I looked before my eyes landed on very familiar figures. Sonic, Rouge, Amy, Cream and Tails stood in the room. Sonic and Rouge seemed to argue, while Tails facepalmed and Amy and Cream held each other, looking really worried. Until the young fox looked up again and locked his eyes with mine. At first he blinked before saying something.

"Guys, look! Knuckles is awake!" he said.

I could hear relief in his voice. Sonic and Rouge stopped immediately and turned towards me. Their faces brightened as soon as they saw me.

"Knux!" my blue rival said happily.

He must be happy to see me awake I guessed. No ten seconds later they surrounded the bed I was lying on. I scanned over their faces.

"Knuckles, hun, are you alright?" Rouge asked me.

"What happened? Where am I?" I groaned.

The last thing I could remember was that I was attacked by some weird yet familiar looking aliens. I tried to fight them but they were too many. Then, after some time, I took too much damage and passed out. That´s it.

"You´re in Station Square Hospital, Knuckles" Amy answered me.

I looked at the pink hedgehog.

"How did I get here? Did you guy save me..?" I asked them but I got shakes from of their head from all of them.

This confused me. Then who..?

"Shadow saved you" Sonic then said.

This confused me even more. Shadow? Why him of all people?

"Why did he..." I began.

"We don´t know" Rouge interrupted. "But after we managed to defeat the Black Arms in Station Square, Shadow came back and he carried you with him"

"He ran past us right to the hospital" Tails finished for her.

"We were shocked to see you like this. Of course worried as hell as well, so we followed" the blue hedgehog then said.

I listened to everything they said.

"When we asked him what the heck happened, he didn´t answer us. He just turned around and left after he gave you to the nurses" Amy added.

"Mr. Shadow seemed to be very worried though" the little rabbit told me.

What?

"He… was worried?" I asked confused.

"You could say that" Sonic began. "It seems quite odd for him I know but two days after the attack I came here to check on you. When I entered your room, I saw Shadow being there. He sat beside your bed on a chair and rested his arms and head on your bed. I guess he fell asleep" 

He sat beside my bed, with his arms and head resting on it? And he was asleep? What?! The more they said the more confused I became. But on the other hand I started to feel how my cheeks got warm. I was blushing, very lightly though, but still blushing. The thought of Shadow worrying about me so much startled me a little. It was just confusing! But wait a minute… what did Sonic say? Two days after the attack? Does that mean...

"Wait, Sonic. Two days after? How long was I unconscious?" I asked.

"..almost two weeks" he answered.

My purple eyes widened. Two weeks?!

"Before you freak out because of the M.E.! Don´t worry! Vector, Espio and Charmy have an eye on it" Sonic added.

Assuming by the reaction I gave after I heard for how long I was passed out, Sonic just had to say that to calm me down a little. And it actually did. A sigh found its way out of my throat. 

"They hurt you really bad, Hun..." Rouge then said with worry in her voice.

"If it wasn´t for Shadow, you would be dead by now..." Amy told me, holding on of her arms.

There was he again. I looked at them and then on the ground. After about a minute of silence, I made a fist and slowly stood up. I heard loud gasps as I started to go the door slowly.

"Knuckles, what the heck are you doing?!" the white bad almost yelled at me.

I didn´t turn around until I reached the door.

"I want to know why Shadow saved me" I said expressionless.

"Are you crazy?! Look at yourself! You are barely able to walk straight!" Amy snarled at me.

My body hurt and was covered with bandages, but I won´t let that stop me.

"Tsk, I´ve gone through worse" I replied and opened the door.

Walking down the floor I heard them shout my name. All five of them but there was no way they would be able to stop me. If I wanted to know something then I was going to find that out. A low chuckle escaped my throat as I heard Rouge yelling what a big idiot I just am. Perhaps I was but I didn´t care. Leaving the hospital I made my way to Shadows house. I guessed he was there. Something also told me that I would find him there. While I was going, I couldn´t stop wondering why he saved me. Why him of all people? It was just weird. Well... okay, we did reach the point where we can call ourselves being friends. Even though he never said it in words nor did I. After we almost beat the living crap out of each other until I finally get that he didn´t come to my island in attempt to steal my emerald. I felt quite dump after some time for not getting if for who knows how long.

However, it was still weird for him to do this. He never seemed to be the guy who would come to rescue if it is just for one person. At least after what happened on the ARK. But I was proven wrong. If I would say it didn´t surprise me than it would have been a lie... and a bad one at that. It was just something I would have never expected from him. Perhaps this was what made me wanting to know why he saved me so badly. I´m not sure. My cheeks got warm again. Damn! Why was I blushing again?! I could have saved this question because I actually know why. But this didn´t matter right now.

After 30 minutes of walking I finally saw his house. This walking exhausted me more than I thought so I was glad that I slowly reached my target. Maybe it would have been better if I stayed in the hospital, but that was too late now. My damn pride also didn´t allow me to turn back. Even after doubts crossed my mind after only 5 minutes of walking. While supporting myself on the wall I finally knocked on Shadows door. I heard him coming to answer and when he did, I only blinked as I saw his expression. I could tell he was completely surprised almost shocked to see me standing right in front of him. I didn´t blame him to be exact but the reaction still was quite more than I expected since he always tries not to show his emotions.

**Shadows P.O.V.**

I just stared at the echidna in front of me. What the hell was he doing here?! Shouldn´t he be in hospital right now?! Had he lost his goddamn mind?!

"Hello Shadow" he greeted me.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" I asked him with a low voice that almost ordered him to answer me instantly.

"I want to talk with you" Knuckles answered. "Can I come in?"

I didn´t say anything at first. The thought of just dragging him back to the hospital no matter if he liked it or not, crossed my mind but I pushed them away. Looking down a little I stepped to the side, still not answering him. Knuckles entered my house and went right to the living room, followed by me. I felt his eyes on me as I entered the living room.

"I..." he began.

I made sure I gave him my full attention. Crossing my arms I waited for him to continue.

"I heard from the others that you saved me, Shadow." the guardian then said.

"That is correct" I answered, my expression as blank as it could be.

It was hard to keep my expression like this. Especially since Knuckles stood right in front of me, still wounded. He also was pretty exhausted from the long walk, even if he tried his best not to show it, but I could see it. His sight sadded me a little. I didn´t want to see him like this. His eyes locked with mine. I took a deep breath. Damn this purple eyes...

"Yeah... thank you for that, by the way..." he said, scratching the back of his head.

A simple nod was my respond.

"But to say thank you, isn´t the reason I came here" he continued, crossing his arms as well.

"And what would be the actual reason?"

"I wanted to ask you something"

"Your question would be?" I asked.

"Why did you save me?" he asked, looking right into my red orbs.

"..."

There was the why. Deep inside I knew he was going to ask that. I just knew it. However, after he asked his question I fell silent and turned away, looking at the ground. I could tell without looking that his expression became a bit confused.

"Shadow, why did you save me?" he asked again, stepping closer.

I hesitated. Now it was the time. This time it really was now or never. Either I will tell him now or I will remain silent forever. A deep sigh, I didn´t know I was holding, escaped my throat. I looked up and turned towards him fully. Locking my eyes with his one more time. He just waited. Waited for the answer he wanted to know so badly. A few more moments passed until I finally started to speak. Knuckles only tilted his head, almost looking curious like a little kid would be.

"Well... I have to protect the one I hold my desire for... don´t I?" I finally said.

Guessing by the confused look on his face, he didn´t immediately get what I just said. That I practically just confessed that I liked him. But a few moments later he then seemed to realize it. His expression turned from confused to surprised or shocked. I couldn´t really tell. Also… his cheeks got a bright red color. He took one step back and I just remained where I stood, still looking at him.

"W-what..?" he asked with shock in his voice.

I didn´t answer.

"Y-you… you… like… me?" was Knuckles next question, the red color still visible on his muzzle.

Again I didn´t answer. Instead I closed my eyes. I expected a reaction like this, so I wasn´t that surprised actually, but still it hurt. So now, I just waited. Waited for him to leave. He had his answer. This was what he came for in the first place. The shocking truth. The seconds felt like hours to me as I didn´t hear anything. No door, no yelling at me, no nothing. It felt like infinity to me until I suddenly felt a pair of lips covering my own. My eyes shot open and I stared at the person in front of me. Knuckles was kissing me. Eyes widened what wasn´t quite a surprise. I didn´t expected this of all things. I could tell that Knuckles himself wasn´t exactly sure what he was doing. Unsure lips moved against my own, his eyes closed tight and the blush on his face got even more intense by every second that passed. Before I could even do something my body started accept the move Knuckles did. My heart, body and soul accepted before my head did so as well but that didn´t take long. Slowly I closed my eyes, placing one hand on Knuckles back and the other one on the guardians neck, pulling him closer to myself. Pressing my lips against his more. This must had startled him because I heard him make a 'Hmpf?!' sound. Also I felt his eyes staring at me. I didn´t care. I wanted to bring all my emotions into this kiss. After month of hiding and denying it, I finally could let it out.

After some time I pulled away from the kiss, panting a bit just like Knuckles. When I opened my eyes to look at the echidna I saw that he looked at the ground all flushed. He looked so cute but I still wondered why he did that. So I asked.

"Why did you kiss me?"

He hesitated a little before replying to me.

"Somehow... I... I have to say thank you... don`t I..?" he said shyly, looking at me from the corner of his eyes, rubbing one of his arms.

A chuckle came out of my mouth. This caused him to blush again.

"Stop laughing!" he barked, blushing even more.

Having my eyes on him, I came closer to him. He didn´t quite know what to do when I suddenly placed my hand on his cheek, rubbing it with my thumb. He looked away, not sure if he should lean into the soft touch or pull away.

"But why with a kiss?" I then asked, tilting my head a little.

"I.... I´m not sure... something just told me to..." he said, looking at me shyly once again.

"Does this mean you love me as well?" I asked out of the blue.

It was stupid for me to ask this question. My mouth was faster than my mind. Something that normally only happened to Faker.

"I... I don´t k-know…" was what he relied.

I knew he wouldn´t say yes. It would have been a way to much cliche for my taste. For both our tastes I guessed. Beside... you can´t know that you love someone by only one kiss. This is something that is not possible. Still it was a little disappointing but when he attempt to continue to speak I gave him my fullest attention.

"I don´t know if my feelings can be as strong as your feelings for me but..."

He looked at me and a convinced looking grin appeared on his muzzle.

"... I am more than willing to give it a try~"

I felt how heat rose on my cheeks as I heard him say that to me. At first I blinked but then started to grin back at him. For the second time our lips met, this time more certain from both our sides. Me wrapping my arms around his waist and Knuckles own wrapping around my neck. Finally I hold him in my arms. After all this time. When we separated from our second kiss, I hugged him, closing my eyes and just enjoyed the feeling of holding him close to myself. After some time though, it got a little weird. He leaned more and more against me. When I looked to the side, I was about to ask what was wrong until I saw that he dozed off when I hugged him. A small chuckles came out of my mouth, I couldn´t help it. Slowly I took him into my arms, carrying him to my bedroom. Poor guy. He must have been really exhausted from all this. First the whole walk to my house and then the whole scene in my living room. Also it seemed like he just woke up in the hospital. Yet he went through all this just to ask me this one question even though he knew he could have also asked me when he felt better. Knowing him this was perhaps just how it went. So I didn´t blame him for dozing off. I chuckled another time and turned my head to look at the sleeping echidna in my arms. A small smile appeared on my face. He was such an idiot...

But...

He was my idiot...


End file.
